


Stripped

by katikat



Category: White Collar
Genre: Angst, Gen, Humiliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-11
Updated: 2010-04-11
Packaged: 2017-10-08 20:51:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/79408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for collarkink. Prompt: <i>Neal gets strip-searched.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Stripped

Peter noticed the tension in the office as soon as he entered it. Looking around quickly, he didn't spot Neal anywhere - and that didn't bode well.

"There you are!" Jones exclaimed, running down the stairs leading from Peter's and Hughes' offices into the common area. "I've been trying to get in touch with you for an hour now!"

"The hearing took longer than I thought," Peter answered, frowning. "What's going on?" he asked, taking off his coat.

"It's Ruiz. After you left, he requested that Caffrey help him with a case, some stolen jewelry in a double-homicide case. He wanted Neal to authenticate some of the pieces, Ruiz suspected that they were counterfeit."

Peter narrowed his eyes, he didn't like where this was going. "So?" he asked slowly.

"Some of the pieces went missing. Ruiz accused Caffrey of stealing them," Jones said angrily.

"What?"

"And that's not all. He insisted on strip-searching Caffrey, took him down to interrogation and..."

Peter didn't wait for Jones to finish. He ran out of the office and took the stairs, deeming the elevator too slow considering the crowd around.

Two floors lower, Peter grabbed the first agent around and yelled at her, "Ruiz! Where is he?"

The young agent blinked and quickly pointed a finger towards the interrogation rooms. "Room 3."

Peter let her go and took off, almost knocking down two agents coming out of their offices. When he arrived at Room 3, he barged in without knocking. What he saw made the blood boil in his veins.

Ruiz was there with one of his agents. Neal was standing in front of them, completely naked, shoulders hunched. He was pale and shivering slightly, a painful grimace on his face.

"Where is it, Caffrey?" Ruiz shouted, getting in Neal's face.

"Ruiz!" Peter thundered, slamming the door shut behind him to cut off the rubberneckers in the corridor. "Back off!"

Neal turned his head towards Peter and looked at him with wild eyes. Peter stepped between Neal and Ruiz, forcing Ruiz to move back. When Ruiz's agent moved forward, Peter pointed a finger at him. "You, stay out of it!" he ordered and the man stopped.

"Burke," Ruiz barked. "How dare you...!"

"Me? How dare you?" Peter snapped at him. "How dare you perform a strip search? Unwarranted and without my presence! I'm Caffrey's handler, if you have a problem with him, you go to me first!" Peter roared, looming over Ruiz.

"He stole my evidence!" Ruiz shouted, pointing at Neal and not backing off.

"And I'm sure you searched everywhere else first before performing such an invasive procedure, am I right, Agent Ruiz?" Peter's voice was cold and biting. "Because if not, your superior will hear from me and I will file a formal complaint!"

Ruiz gritted his teeth. "He has to have it on him somewhere!" he insisted.

"Obviously he doesn't!" Peter retorted. "I would suggest, Agent Ruiz, that you go look somewhere else." When Ruiz didn't move, Peter yelled, "Now!"

Ruiz glared at Peter a moment longer, then threw Neal a hateful glance before exiting the room together with his agent. They slammed the door shut so hard the glass in the mirrored wall rattled.

Peter took a deep breath and turned towards Neal. The younger man was standing there motionless, hugging himself, shoulders still hunched and eyes fixed on the floor. Peter sighed. He couldn't even imagine how humiliating the procedure must have been for Neal, especially with a jerk like Ruiz present.

"Get dressed, Neal," Peter said softly, bending down to retrieve pieces of Neal's clothing.

For a long moment, Neal didn't move, then he slowly accepted the clothes Peter was handing him. He still didn't look Peter in the eyes. He started getting dressed with slow, deliberate moves and when he bent down to put on his socks, he breathed in sharply.

Peter narrowed his eyes. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

Neal froze but didn't reply and Peter noticed how his cheeks were flushed, giving his pale face a feverish look.

Peter lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "Neal? Talk to me. What did Ruiz do?"

Neal was still bent, a sock in his hands, and Peter stared at the ridges of his spine. He noticed that Neal was still shivering slightly despite the warm temperature of the room.

"Neal...?"

"They were really... thorough, okay?" Neal rasped. "And not exactly gentle."

Peter's heart clenched. "Neal, did Ruiz perform a body cavity search?" he asked.

Neal didn't answer but the way he hunched his shoulders even more, told Peter everything.

"I'll kill the bastard!" Peter snapped, hitting the wall with the palm of his hand hard. He breathed in and out several times to calm down.

When he got himself under control, he turned back to Neal who now had his socks and pants on, but still stayed hunched, shoulders slumped. He was the embodiment of misery.

"Neal, do you need to go to the hospital?" Peter asked. When Neal shook his head, Peter pressed on, "Neal, if you are hurt, you need to tell me. This is no small matter..."

"I'm not hurt, Peter," Neal said, his voice still thick but firmer. He gave Peter a quick glance before looking away. "It just... it brought back bad memories. From before. In jail," he finished, his words barely audible.

Peter closed his eyes tight and let his head hang for a moment. "I'm sorry. I never... That's not something I ever wanted to happen to you, I swear," he said earnestly.

Neal just nodded, picking up his shirt from the ugly, battered table, shooting the piece of furniture dark look and swallowing hard. Peter could imagine what happened here and his desire to hit Ruiz, to kill him grew even stronger.

There was a soft knock on the door and when he responded, stepping in front of Neal to cover him from curious eyes, the young agent he had grabbed earlier appeared in the doorway.

"Agent Burke, sir," she stammered, shuffling her feet. "Agent Ruiz wanted me to tell you that they found the... evidence. Someone, uh, filed it incorrectly."

Peter felt his face grow hot with anger. "And that coward couldn't tell me himself?" he thundered.

The girl opened her eyes wide in fear. "I..."

Taking a deep breath and reminding himself that it wasn't this agent's fault, he waved a hand at her. "Go."

When the door closed again and they were left alone, Peter turned back to Neal who was slowly buttoning his shirt. "Well, that's that," Peter said, disgust evident in his voice. "I'll file a complaint against Ruiz, as soon as we return to the office..."

"No," Neal said, stopping in mid-move.

Peter looked at him in disbelief. "What? Neal, after what he did to you? You can't just..."

"Just don't, Peter, okay?" Neal whispered and finally looked at Peter. His eyes were dark and tired, too old for his age. "I just want it to be over. I don't want to go over what he d-did," he stumbled over the words, "again in some official hearing. Please, don't make me."

Peter wanted to punish Ruiz, he wanted to let everybody know what a sick bastard he was, but looking at Neal... He realized that to punish Ruiz, he would have to make Neal testify. Peter couldn't bring himself to put Neal through it again. Not when Neal was so against it...

"Okay, okay, as you wish," Peter allowed reluctantly, then helped Neal into his jacket. "Ready?"

Neal nodded. "Can you take me home, please? I would like to take a shower," he said thickly, picking up his tie and hat.

"Sure, whatever you want," Peter agreed, suppressing a new wave of anger. He headed for the door, where he waited for Neal to join him, then opened it.

With Peter by his side and as much dignity as he could manage, Neal left the room.

The End


End file.
